I had been sound asleep for nearly two hours now, all warm and cozy in my sleeping bag, when all of a sudden I was awaken by the sudden rocking back and forth of our old rickety minivan along with a loud rattling noise that went along with it. It sounded like it was going to fall apart any second. I hated that van. The old burgundy thing was Dad’s favorite, despite the fact that it was over fifteen years old and had rust falling off everywhere. Not to mention the shocks were shot and the slightest of bumps or imperfections in the road made it feel like we had gone through an earthquake zone. Nonetheless however, Dad always insisted we take the minivan whenever we went on vacation. I sat up startled by all the commotion, and peered out the side window. We had just turned off the main road and onto some dirt side road. It was dark out so i couldn’t make out much of the landscape. I pulled out my phone to check the time. “1:30 AM,” I said quietly to myself squinting at the bright screen. I was surprised by how late it was. Just then the van made another quick turn and came to a sudden halt. “We’re here!” exclaimed my dad from the drivers seat. My little sister sat up next to me and jumped up out of her sleeping bag. She was eight years old, so this was quite exciting for her. “Yay were here! she shouted. It was our lake house. I hated the lake house. My dad and sister loved the lake house, so they would always drag me along with them for the weekend whenever they went there. After unloading our main luggage from the van and into the house, we all retired for the night.

I had passed out that night and didn’t wake up until after noon the next day. I rolled over in bed, and rubbed my eyes. The sun was shining in through my bedroom window, and all i could hear were the birds singing their sweet morning songs. It was quiet nice. I climbed out of bed and threw on my shirt, and just then the smell of bacon and eggs filled my nose. I suddenly realized that i haven’t eaten anything since about afternoon yesterday, and that I was super hungry. I rushed downstairs to find my dad and sister in the kitchen having breakfast. They were always up really early. “There’s the sleeping beauty.” my dad said. My sister just laughed. I ignored their jokes, and grabbed some food. “Alrighty, your sister and I are going on a hike. Wanna come?” asked my dad. “Nah.” was all I replied. “Okay, if you say so.” he replied disappearing out the door. I sighed and finished my food.

After breakfast, I sat on the couch and flipped through the TV channels. Nothing good was on. “What was their to do in this place?” I asked myself. Dad and Sidney went on a hike, and I was stuck here. After sitting there a while, I decided to go outside for some fresh air. I stood on the porch for a bit just looking out at everything. Seeing that I had lived in the city most of my life, I hadn’t seen this much nature ever. It was surprisingly peaceful and beautiful. The house was tucked away in the middle of nowhere. It overlooked a small lake in which the family before us used to swim in all the time before they all disappeared. I thought about that for a bit. It was a rather weird thought knowing the owners of this house disappeared and were never seen from again. After all, in a place like this anything was possible. It was literally in the middle of nowhere. I looked around at the huge trees surrounding the house. They were kind of like a fence that blocked out all outside life. Or maybe, a fence that kept all that goes on here at the lake house a mystery. That thought gave me the chills. I shook my head and just ignored it.

Just then, I caught a glimpse of something in the corner of my eye. At first I thought it must have been a deer or something. I blinked and starred hard at what I thought was a.. It was gone. Did I just see a.. No. I couldn’t have. My heart instantly started pounding. My thoughts were racing. My body was going into complete panic mode. Here I was, at some old lake house in the middle of nowhere, by myself. Out of all times, this could be probably the absolute worst time to see what I just saw. I turned and sprinted back into the house locking the door behind me. I went to dial 911 but there was no service. I dropped the phone and ran up stairs to my room. I hid beside my bed, and just sat there all tucked up as tight as possible. I wanted to scream out for help but nobody would hear. That would only give away my hiding spot. I was sweating like a mad man. I thought about just running as far away from here as possible, but we were in the middle of nowhere and there would be no place to go. Then I heard a noise. I held my breath; listening, waiting. It was the sound of my sister. Then I heard my dad’s voice. I was relieved all at once. I jumped up and sprinted off down the stairs to meet them, when, all of a sudden, a scream cried out. I instantly came to a immediate halt. My body became cold with fear. I covered my mouth from screaming myself. It was quiet. Too quiet. My heart began to pound again. My fear was back all over. I couldn’t get over what I had saw earlier. It was like a... Just then, the door nob of the front door rattled. On the outside, there was footsteps shuffling around. I stood there, frozen. What about my dad, or my sister? I had just heard them. Now they too were gone. It couldn’t possibly be true. “No! This isn’t happening!” I told myself. I was just working myself up. I just need to relax and evaluate the situation. So i took a deep breathe. In and out, in and out. I didn’t know what to do, so i slowly eased my way back up the stairs. One foot at a time. I hadn’t gotten though. I paused again, listening. The footsteps had stopped. It was dead silent again. It was dead silent for a solid five minutes now. I had just stood there like a statue, hoping for a miracle. Then I heard the backdoor knob twist. My eyes grew with terror. I had forgot about the back door. The hinges creaked as it slid open. I slowly rotated my head around. It was him. The figure I had saw outside earlier. I looked into the eyes of my very worst nightmare. The man stood there, smiling at me. He was holding a bloody machete in his right arm. He took a step forward, and slammed the back door behind him, locking the deadbolt. There was no escape now.